World Traveler

The hotels in Las Vegas are numerous and amazing, and the best thing for visitors is that many offer FREE attractions that everyone can go to and enjoy. Some of the unusual offerings in Vegas, however, are only for guests staying at a hotel, so check out what the policy is.

The CONSERVATORY REVIEW at the BELLAGIO is Vegas’ most popular show. More than five million visitors a year see the floral extravaganza that changes through the seasons. The spectators enjoy the floral theatrical productions that include more than 10,000 potted plants and flowers as well as unusual items that appear like a 1922 Ferris wheel that is 40 feet tall. Watering is done by hand, and old plants are recycled into mulch.

The FOUNTAINS, also at the BELLAGIO, have water that soars as high as 460 feet in an 8.5-acre lake that cost $40 million. The musical routines are professionally choreographed and are presented on weekdays every 30 minutes between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m. and every 15 minutes until midnight. On weekends shows start at noon. A wedding package can be booked on a balcony overlooking the fountains, and the water soars high into the sky when the couple takes their first kiss! The Clark County Fire Department can also use the water to fight a nearby fire if necessary.

THE AQUARIUM at the SILVERTON CASINO LODGE has a fifteen-minute show in a 117,000-gallon tank that not only features 4,000 tropical fish but also women dressed as mermaids.

The VOLCANO at THE MIRAGE combines fire that shoots more than 12 feet into the air with music and choreography run by a computer system that allows the fireballs to move to the rhythm of instruments from around the world in a fascinating way. The pulsating sound recordings used come from actual volcano eruptions, and you can feel the fire on your face. There are also waterfalls and pools with fire and smoke effects.

The GONDOLA at THE VENETIAN has an indoor gondola ride that goes through the mall and shares the lilting voices of the gondoliers as they go through bridges, facades, and other monuments. The outdoor route runs along replicas of Italian pizzas and palaces. Lasting 20 minutes, these rides can be private or with a small group of people. They run from 9:00 a.m. until late in the evening, and it is wise to put your name on a reservation list.

FALL OF ATLANTIS and FESTIVAL FOUNTAIN at the CAESARS Forum Shops not only has stunning special effects but acts out the story of which children King Atlas would have rule Atlantis and then as Atlantis is consumed by fire and flooding water. The destruction is watched by a 20-foot winged beast. This is all done with life-like animatronic figures.

The LION HABITAT at the MGM GRAND lets visitors watch the lions as they play, feed, sleep, etc. Separated by glass that is only one and a half inches thick, the lions are only there for six hours at a time. When not on display, they live on a ranch only 12 miles away.

You can get flights to Las Vegas from Netflights.com and book hotels at hotels.com

A holiday to the caribbean offers you the chance to visit some of the most spectacular beaches in the world. But you are thinking about the high air fares. Then Cheapoair is the solution to all your queries. Book through CheapOair because you will experience the low budget International Flights like never before.

Virtually every island of the Caribbean will have beaches that amaze; with crystal clear blue seas, sugar white sand & palm trees.

To help you choose where to go and more importantly what beach to choose, we have compiled a list of the top 10 beaches in the Caribbean.

1/ Palm Beach (Aruba) – Idyllic beach setting with superb white sand.

2/ Grand Anse Beach (Grenada) – 3km beach with sugar-white sand, lots of space & shallow waters.

3/ Johnson’s Point (Antigua) – Made up of secluded coves; these white soft sand beaches are a must for snorkeling & swimming

4/ Pink Sand Beach ( Bahamas) – One of the world’s most photographed beaches, often voted world’s best by travel publications. 5km’s of salmon pink coloured sand, due to red plankton that has mixed with the fine white sand.

5/ Crane Beach (Barbados) – Often voted as Barbados’ most beautiful beach. Imposing cliffs, a natural coral reef and soft white sands make for a perfect beach.

6/ Negril Beach (Jamaica) – Laid back atmosphere and Jamaica’s prettiest beach. A lot quieter than Seven Mile beach.

7/ Englishman’s Bay (Tobago) – A sheltered beach with fine white sand, crystal waters & surrounded by a palm jungle.

8/ Grace Bay (Turks & Caicos) – Part of a national marine park, this beach has fine white sand, calm turquoise waters and is protected by a barrier reef.

9/ Trunk Bay (US Virgin Islands) – A beautiful beach with crystal clear waters, considered one of the best places for snorkeling in the Caribbean.

10/ Shoal Bay (Anguilla) – Put Angullia on the tourism map; sugar-white sand, crystal clear blue waters & coral reefs.

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Located on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Sharm El Sheikh is a wonderful place to visit where you can enjoy white sandy beaches, and desert landscapes inland. The waters here are crystal clear and blue to look at.

Trips off the coast to look down into the waters using a glass bottom boat are very popular, and there are magnificent corals to see, as well as exotic under water flora and rare tropical fish. This is one of the most beautiful underwater locations in the world, and snorkelling and scuba diving are very popular here.

Inland, you will find many things to do. You can visit the sulphur springs which are considered a cure for people suffering from skin disorders and rheumatic problems. The old town here is very beautiful, and gives a real feel for the people and lifestyle here. You can also take desert safari trips to see all that the desert has to offer. Many of these trips involve a ride on a horse or camel as the distance to some of the temples and museums is a little far for walking. Camel rides can be rather uncomfortable, but it’s such fun that it’s worth it.

There are a number of bays that make up Sharm el Sheikh, Na’ama Bay is a long sandy bay where the seafront boasts a beautiful paved walkway lined with oleander and bougainvillaea. There are many shops, bars and sheesha cafes here, and it is very popular in the evenings. Sharm El Maya is the name given to the old town bay area. Here you’ll find a natural harbout that’s home to many small boats, and the lovely sandy beaches have lots of palm trees scattered about providing natural shade for familes who want to rest here. The old town is just a short walk away and is an excellent place to visit. Ras Um Sid Cliff is the cliff top area that links these two bays, and is about 5 minutes drive from each.

As well as all this traditional beauty, there are casinos, discos and nightclubs, golf courses, wind surfing and other water sports that you can join in with. Overall, you’ll find the place full of all the amenities you could hope for, whilst still being relatively unspoilt by them.

If you are looking for holidays in Sharm as well as flight and hotels in Sharm el Sheikh visit dealchecker

When you go on holiday, having a credit card that you can pay for things with can be a really useful option these days. Of course, until recently it wasn’t possible for everyone to use this option, but now with the option of pre-paid credit cards, everyone can make use of the benefits available when paying by credit card.

If you’ve not come across them before, the concept of a pre-paid credit card might seem a little odd, but actually it’s quite simple. Instead of borrowing money from the credit card company and then paying it back afterwards plus interest, you get a card which you can load money onto. Once it’s loaded with cash, you can then use it just like a regular credit card and get all the benefits you’d get with a regular credit card, but instead of owing money, you’ve only ever spent your own cash, so you don’t have to worry about big credit card bills or anything. Because of the way it works, you can get one even if you don’t have a very good credit rating too.

So what are the advantages of using one of these when you travel abroad? Well to start with, if your card did get stolen, there’s no risk of them running up huge debts. The maximum the card would let them spend is the amount you’ve pre-loaded onto it. It’s also not linked to your bank account so it’s much safer from this point of view too.
Many of the companies who issue pre-paid credit cards that are designed for use when travelling offer emergency card or cash replacement facilities too – just like regular credit cards do – so if you found yourself with a lost or stolen card, you wouldn’t be left stranded with no money as you would if you carried cash.

Another advantage of pre-paid cards is that they are often available in Euros or US Dollars as well as Pounds Stirling. This means that you can keep tabs on what you’re spending more easily as you can add the money in your own currency, and then on holiday you can work in the local currency without worrying about overspending as you can easily see your balance on the card.

Travelling can actually even be cheaper when using a pre-paid credit card too. For example, if you travel with Ryanair, they charge a booking fee of £5 per person per flight for most payment methods. In fact, the only payment method which doesn’t incur this charge is a pre-paid credit card, so if 4 of you are travelling, you could save £40 by paying this way.

Just as regular credit cards offer different interest rates and different backing (mastercard, Visa, Maestro, etc.) the same applies to pre-pay cards, so if you’re planning on using your card abroad, make sure you choose one which will be accepted in lots of places in the location that you’re visiting.

Holidays can be expensive, but there are plenty of ways you can make your money go further if you try. Here are a few ideas to get you started some of which may challenge your traditional idea of how a holiday should be, and really get you to think outside the box:

House Sit or House Swap
There are a number of sites that have grown up such as ‘Home Link’ and ‘Home Exchange’ where people can arrange to swap homes with another family in an area in the UK or Europe that they’d like to visit. Living in someone else’s home means you don’t have the cost of hotels to worry about, and it can be really great as you can leave them details of your favourite places to visit locally, and they can do the same for you. House sitting can save you money in a similar way, and sites such as ‘Mind My House’ and ‘Caretaker’ are useful for this.

Negotiate for deals
Many hotels prefer to fill all rooms rather than have them empty, so if you’re looking at going somewhere last minute, try contacting them direct to see if you can cut a deal with them. Alternatively use sites such as ‘Priceline’ who let you bid last minute for hotels and flights and so on.

Bike not car
Travelling with a car gives you a nice box to sit in when you’re out and about, but if you travel with your bike, you don’t pay for all that expensive fuel. It’s possible to take a bike on a train for getting to further away destinations (ring and check with the rail network first to make sure there are no extra costs or restrictions), and then you’ve got it there with you for easy transport when you arrive.

Hostels and Campsites
If you’re going to keep things cheap, stay out of the hotels completely. Throughout most of Europe there are hostels and campsites where you can stay for a fraction of the cost of most hotels. Most people think of hostels as places for single people, but many have family rooms which you can book. These generally have bunk beds in them, but give you a small amount of privacy compared to staying in a dorm.

Pick Your Location
Money definitely goes further in some locations, so pick where you’re going to holiday while bearing this in mind. This works whether you’re travelling abroad or staying in the UK too, London being the capital is much more expensive than many smaller towns up and down the country for example.

Travel Off Season
If you travel when everyone else wants to then the prices will be high, so if you can avoid doing this, and travel when everyone else has gone back to school or work for example then you will find most things are cheaper.

There are many more ideas out there for ways you can cut your costs when on holiday, but hopefully some of these will give you a great place to start.

This article was provided by Family Holidays Abroad who provide information about family holiday resorts around the world.

Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper in New York City, and is the fourth tallest freestanding structure in the Americas. It is considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Tourists can check out the view of New York City from the Empire State Building, but it is recommended that you book your tickets for the day in advance – the queues can get pretty long! Try and arrange to take your trip around sunset; that way you can have the benefit of seeing the layout of the city, and then late admire the bright lights of the city that never sleeps.

Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a monument commemorating the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, given to the United States by the people of France. It represents their friendship formed during the American Revolution. Liberty Island is welcome to visitors, who can take a ferry to visit one of the most recognizable monuments in the world. Tourists can even have dinner on the island with Statue Cruises http://www.statuecruises.com/pd_eveningliberty

Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT) is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With 44 separate platforms, it is the largest train station in the world.

Rockefeller Centre
Rockefeller Centre, built by the Rockefeller family, is a complex of 19 commercial buildings in the centre of Midtown Manhattan. Such buildings include The Radio City Music Hall, which holds the Grammy and Tony Awards and legendary performers, and the GE Building, an Art Deco Building which is recognizable as the setting for the famous ‘Lunchtime atop a Skyscraper’ photograph, taken by Charles C. Ebbets in 1932. It pictures workers sitting on a steel beam having lunch, without safety harnesses.

Ellis Island Immigration Museum
Ellis Island in New York Harbour was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the site of the nation’s busiest immigration station from 1892 to 1954. Visitors to the island’s museum can investigate immigration history, family documentation, family stories, and an audio tour. Also on display are photographs, videos, displays and exhibits.

Staten Island Ferry
The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry service that runs between Manhattan Island and Staten Island. Service is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The journey is 25 minutes each way, and is free of charge.

American Museum of Natural History
Located opposite Central Park, on the Upper West side of Manhattan is the American Museum of Natural History, whose remarkable exhibits are also a must-see for visitors to New York. It has 46 permanent exhibition halls, and over 32 million specimens. A life-size model of a Blue Whale can be found in the Hall of Ocean Life, as well as the fossilised skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Mammoth. In addition, the IMAX Theatre boasts a number of fascinating documentaries about our planet’s wildlife. Overall, the museum’s wide variety of natural history exhibitions makes it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city.

>Central Park
Whether travelling as a family or on your own the 843 acres of Central Park, located in the centre of busy Manhattan, is a great experience. It welcomes around 25 million visitors every year, and has an enormous selection of sights and attractions to experience, which caters for both the summer and winter months. In the summer, families can rent model boats and play tennis, whereas ice-skating is very popular during the snowy winter months. Other attractions include an 11-foot statue of Lewis Carroll’s beloved characters from ‘Alice in Wonderland’, John Lennon’s Strawberry Fields garden, and Central Park Zoo.

Times Square
If there’s one place you absolutely HAVE to visit in New York, it has to be Times Square. At the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, is has been nicknamed “The Crossroads of the World” and “The Great White Way”, and is an iconic world landmark and a symbol of New York City and the United States. It is also the site of the annual ball drop on the evening of the New Year.

The Bronx Zoo
A fantastic family attraction is the Bronx Zoo, located within the Bronx Park. It includes over 4,000 animals and 600 different species, and is regarded as the largest urban zoo in the world. In particular, the buildings’ Beaux Arts architecture is definitely something to admire, as well as the zoo’s conservation efforts. All the exhibits cater for the animals’ specific habitats, and in January 2010, the zoo adopted four orphaned bear cubs. Young children have the opportunity to feed their favourite animals, and take part in lots of fun activities in the three-acre setting of the Children’s Zoo. Kids can take a ride on the Bug Carousel, and feed the Sheep, Goats and Llamas in the barn. In the main zoo, you can take a tour on the Wild Asia Monorail, a guide to the many animals from the world’s largest continent. There are also plenty of opportunities to cool down with snacks and drinks.

If this has interested you – you can search for cheap flights to new york at Netflights and cheap hotels at hotels.com

Taking a cruise can be an amazing holiday. It’s a very different way to see the world, approaching every place you visit from the water in a leisurely manner. You can enjoy the peace and serenity of the ocean as you stroll along the deck, or enjoy the vibrancy of shared activities with your onboard companions.

Princess Cruises offer trips to many different parts of the world, from the relaxed atmosphere of the Caribbean or the South Pacific, to the more vibrant world of Europe. There’s the Panama Canal with all the wonderful changing jungle landscapes that can be seen as you cruise this man-made stretch of water, or South America where you can navigate the straits of Magellan, or you could even visit Alaska where you can see dazzling glacier views. Where ever you choose to go, Princess Cruises will help you enjoy and explore the destinations with excellent land excursions and the wonders of the sea.

On board ship, there is lots to entertain you as well, whether you seek activity, or crave tranquillity, everything is there that you could need for a relaxing and fun time. Seek out sports activities or visit the shops, take a stroll along the deck, or relax by the pool. Then, in the evening, relax and enjoy freshly prepared cuisine and dining options to suit any mood, from traditional dining where you are waited on and served at set times, to more casual dining where you can choose when to eat and which of the many on board restaurants you’d like to experience.

Follow your dining experience with a visit to the casino, or enjoy a classic broadway style show. Take part in a talent contest, dance the night away at the disco, catch a comedy act, or just chill out over a drink in one of the ships cozy bars and lounges where you can swap stories with other passengers. Whatever your taste, Princess cruises take pride in offering something for everyone.

http://www.princess.com